News & Notes - June 21

COLUMBUS – The Crew travels to Bridgeview, Ill., this Saturday, June 23, to face the Chicago Fire at TOYOTA Park for the second of three Eastern Conference matches between the two Midwestern sides. The Black & Gold (5-4-4, 19 pts.) looks to continue its positive form and extend its unbeaten streak to seven matches after earning a hard-fought point in a scoreless draw at New England last Saturday (June 16).

Saturday’s match will kick off at 8:30 p.m. (ET) and be televised live regionally on FOX Sports Ohio, with Dwight Burgess and Duncan Oughton calling all the action. The game can also be heard in English on News/Talk 610 WTVN and on-line at TheCrew.com, with Neil Sika on the call, and in Spanish on La Mega 103.1, with Carlos Cordova behind the microphone.

The Fire (6-5-3, 21 pts.) enters the match on the heels of a 3-1 win over New York last Sunday (June 17), that saw Chris Rolfe of Kettering, Ohio, score his first goal for Chicago since returning to the team after a three-year stint with Danish Superliga side Aalborg BK. Forward Dominic Oduro leads Chicago in goals scored with four, but the Fire can also rely on Guatemalan international Marco Pappa who has three goals and three assists and Argentine midfielder Sebastian Grazzini who leads the team in assists with four and has added two goals.

The last time the clubs met, on May 26 at Crew Stadium, the Black & Gold “Put Out the Fire” with a thrilling 2-1 victory behind goals from Emilio Renteria and Eddie Gaven. The Crew’s all-time record against Chicago is 12-20-13 and 5-11-6 on the road. Last year the Black & Gold suffered a 3-2 loss at TOYOTA Park in the regular-season finale (Oct. 22) after coming back to tie the game 2-2 with goals by Dilly Duka and Renteria.

Next up, the Crew celebrates Red, White & Crew and Military Appreciation Night, when its hosts Real Salt Lake on Saturday, June 30, at 8 p.m. at Crew Stadium with a fireworks display to follow the match.

CREW PUB TOUR CONTINUES THIS SATURDAY AT DAVE & BUSTER’S IN POLARIS
The Crew continues its 2012 Pub Tour with a viewing party at Dave & Buster’s in Polaris (1554 Polaris Parkway #206, Columbus, OH 43240) this Saturday, June 23. The Black & Gold’s match at Chicago kicks off at 8:30 p.m. (ET) and televisions in the pub will be tuned to FOX Sports Ohio so fans can enjoy the game. There will also be prizes and giveaways, including autographed memorabilia.

ALL-STAR VOTING TAKES TO TWITTER AS CREW TRIES TO BEAT CHICAGO IN TWEET WAR
As All-Star voting continues at MLSSoccer.com and via text at 22442, the Crew is encouraging fans to vote via Twitter on June 21 and 22 only, by adding the hashtag #MLSAllStar to the player’s full name (first and last required) in their tweets. Fans can vote for Sebastian Miranda, Milovan Mirosevic, Chad Marshall, Eddie Gaven, Emilio Renteria and the league’s leader in saves, Andy Gruenebaum, who has been instrumental this season in the absence of William Hesmer, recording a career-high five shutouts. The Crew has also entered into a tweet battle with Chicago to increase awareness about All-Star voting, as well as the match at Chicago this weekend. The Black & Gold is asking their fans to add the hashtag #VoteCrew to all their tweets about the Crew. The Chicago Fire will be using the hashtag #VoteFire during the same time and just before kickoff on Saturday, June 23, results between the two teams will be calculated to see who emerges as the winner.

CREW JUNIORS U-20s LEAD USL SUPER-20 STANDINGS AFTER PAIR OF WINS
The Crew Juniors Under-20 team, coached by Crew technical director Brian Bliss, continued their run at the USL Super-20 League title by defeating Cincinnati United Premier 3-0 on Sunday, June 17, with goals by Cole Denormandie, Matt Walker and Max Moller. On Tuesday, June 19, Walker recorded a hat trick, Denormandie added two goals and Fatai Alashe and Bryce Ashton both had one as the U-20s topped the Dayton Dutch Lions 7-1 at Miami Valley School in Dayton, cementing their lead atop the Super-20 Midwestern Division. Next the U20s travel to Bridgeview, Ill., to face the Chicago Fire on Sunday, July 1 at TOYOTA Park with kickoff set for 11 a.m.

CSA’s BEN SWANSON CAPTAINS U.S. U-15 NATIONAL TEAM IN 3-1 WIN OVER COSTA RICA
Crew Soccer Academy U-15/16 standout midfielder Ben Swanson, of Grove City, has been called into U.S. Under-15 National Team camp to participate in the Copa Mexico de Naciones, taking place in Mexico City, June 18-24. After losing their first match to Spain, 1-0 on June 18, Swanson captained his squad to a commanding 3-1 victory over Costa Rica on June 19. Swanson did not feature in the 0-0 draw against Colombia on June 20 that sent the South American team through to the next round on goal differential and eliminated the United States.

CSA U-17/18s OPEN DEVELOPMENT ACADEMY PLAYOFFS ON MONDAY
The 2011-12 Development Academy Playoffs schedule kicks off with 16 games in the U-17/18 age group on Monday, June 25, in Frisco, Texas. The Crew Soccer Academy U-17/18s will open against Players Development Academy of Somerset, N.J. They are joined in Group 8 by Baltimore Bays Chelsea (Forest Hill, Md.) and Lonestar SC Academy (Austin, Texas). Eight teams will advance from the Academy Playoffs to the 2011-12 Development Academy Finals Week from July 16-23 in Houston.